NEW YORK, (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Following the success of Dora the Explorer Live!, Nickelodeon and Live Nation plan to launch an all new family theatrical live tour in February 2007, based on top preschool series Go, Diego, Go!. The national tour, titled Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue, will travel to approximately 50 markets in 2007, kicking off in Louisville, KY on February 1.
Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue launches on the heels of Nickelodeon Recreation and Live Nation's most recent project, Dora the Explorer Live!, which sold close to three million tickets during its domestic run, and was the highest grossing project to-date for the Nickelodeon/Live Nation partnership. Based on the hit Nick Jr. series, Dora the Explorer Live! recently wrapped its third touring season and just made its debut in Europe in August.
"Dora the Explorer Live! proved to be another huge touring franchise for Nickelodeon," says Stuart Rosenstein, vice president, Nickelodeon Recreation. "We are excited to continue the tradition of bringing beautifully creative live show productions of the highest quality to families across the country with Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue."
"The partnership between Nickelodeon and Live Nation has produced many of the biggest touring theatrical family shows over the last decade," says Jennifer Costello, senior vice president, Theatrical Production, Live Nation. "Based on the reaction from the local presenters, we believe that Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue will be our next family touring blockbuster."
The new live-action stage show follows Diego, his sister Alicia and cousin Dora on an action-packed, special mission to get Baby Jaguar's growl back from the Bobo Brothers. They'll need the audience's help to rescue animals, navigate through the rainforest, and pass a giant waterfall to get to the Animal Carnivale. Featuring the familiar songs and characters from the award winning television show that fans have come to love, this live action theatrical will take preschoolers on an interactive, high-stakes journey inspired by the rich environments of Latin America and by the animals that make their homes in those habitats.
Chris Gifford is the executive producer and co-creator of the TV series, Go, Diego, Go!, writing and adapting his teleplay, "The Great Jaguar Rescue" for the stage show Go, Diego, Go Live!. Gifford, who joined Nickelodeon in 1989, is also the co-creator and executive producer of the preschool phenomenon, Dora the Explorer, on Nick Jr. and wrote both Dora the Explorer Live! stage shows.
Gip Hoppe will serve as director of Go, Diego, Go Live!. Hoppe first worked with Nickelodeon and Live Nation on Blue's Clues Live! and Blue's Clues Live! — Blue's Birthday Party, as well as the first Dora the Explorer Live! production "Search for the City of Lost Toys." Hoppe wrote and directed the Broadway play Jackie: An American Life, and is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theater.
Since its debut on Nick Jr.'s regular weekday line-up on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005, Go, Diego, Go! quickly became the top preschool series on commercial television. The series was the number-one program with preschoolers for five consecutive quarters, and currently ranks among the top preschool programs with Hispanic kids 2-5 on all of commercial television. On average, Go, Diego, Go! draws approximately 6.3 million kids 2-5, almost 20 million total viewers (persons 2+), and 7.5 million adults 18+ each month*.
Go, Diego, Go!, features eight-year-old Diego, a bilingual animal rescuer and nature expert who has the ability to talk to animals. In each episode, flavored with Spanish words, Latin American music, folktales and traditions, Diego and his friends encourage kids to use scientific thinking and investigative strategies to help animals in trouble. Baby Jaguar is the animal closest to Diego's heart, and his youthful eagerness sometimes puts him in precarious situations. Go, Diego, Go! airs weekdays at 9:30 a.m. ET/PT on Nick Jr., and is created and executive produced by Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh, the same team behind the phenomenal hit show Dora the Explorer. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
